Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites
by xXGrelleXx
Summary: Re-imagined version of 'I miss you tonight' Axel is re-born he has a real heart at last, he starts a new life on Destiny Islands and finds he is not alone, all the members of Organization 13 are living there. All but one. The person he never confessed to.
1. Death's Embrace and Lifes Warm Light

Deep in the shadows of Sora's heart could be found another soul, one that should not have been there, but was trapped within the keyblader. Roxas sat on the none-existent ground, knees pulled to his thin chest, his face buried in them. In the distance he could both hear and feel that Sora was struggling to fight, he could sense the familiar presence of Dusk's all around the other boy, _'There are too many of them!'_ Sora yelled.

Another familiar presence made itself know, Roxas could feel them and they tinged long forgotten memories in his heart, feelings he thought were gone after so long inside Sora. Roxas lifted his head in confusion, in front of him was the window to the outside world, one he had gazed out of many times so he could know which one of his comrades Sora had defeated. Oh how the blonde could clearly remember each one of his comrades death's, he saw in his own mind Xaldin's fall from glory, saw Demyx fall to the ruthless brunettes keyblade and how he had felt sick inside watching his friend fall at the hand of his supposed somebody; He felt as though it had been he who had taken their lives. He could hear a new voice out there, one that struck a cord in the heart he should not of had. Roxas pushed himself to his feet and walked forward to peer out the 'window' of Sora's mind, the sight before his eyes made his heart skip, someone had joined the fight to help Sora and his friends.

"Ax..el?" The Key of Destiny whispered softly to the empty air, placing a hand against the 'glass', watching with baited breath as the red haired Flurry fought along side the brunette keyblader. They were struggling admirably against a few, he was sure, thousands of Dusks in the Betwixt and Between; The very home of the Dusk's. _'Hey, wanna see something cool? I can defeat these guys in one move!'_ Axel's voice drifted in to meet Roxas's ears and the blonde felt his heart stop beating, he knew exactly what Axel was planning and knew with a sickening twist in his gut what would happen should the red head do it.

"Axel...No..." Roxas whispered at first, watching as if in slow motion as Axel stepped away from the brunette, getting into position as he brought his arms closer to his lithe body. "No...No...NO!" The blonde shrieked inside Sora's mind, slamming his fist repeatedly against the 'window', "Axel wait! Don't do it! PLEASE! AXEL!"

Beyond the window the Flurry of Dancing Flames willed every ounce of his power into one powerful attack, the look in his eye at first appearing determined, was actually resigned; As if he was prepared to die. In a flash of purifying heat, the Dusks were eradicated on one fell swoop. When the light faded, Axel lay very still on the ground, Sora ran to his side and dropped down beside him. _'Axel! Are you alright!'_ The Brunette asked, receiving a tired smirk from the red head, his body was fading fast into the darkness. _'Listen, you gotta keep going Sora, Saix has Kairi in the dungeons...T-tell her I'm sorry ok? I never meant for any of this to happen...'_ He groaned softly, Sora placed a hand on his shoulder, _'C'mon Axel, you can tell her yourself. Get up, you can come with us!_' Axel smiled sadly, closing his eyes, _'Nah...My heart wouldn't really be in it, Y'know?'_

_'Axel...Why? Why did you do it? Why did you help us?'_ Sora asked, Axel opened his brilliant green eyes to look at him, his words a whisper. "AAAXXXEEELLL!" Roxas screamed inside Soar's mind, knowing very well the young keyblader couldn't hear him. Roxas watched helplessly, tears streaking his face, as Axel faded away: His last words both torture and relief. _'I just wanted to see him one more time…He was the only one that...made me feel like I had a heart…'_

* * *

><p>Axel felt numbness take over his senses, he frowned, he should be dead right? So why was it his mind was still working? Green eyes fluttered open and all at once his senses returned, the first thing he noticed was that his body felt wet and clammy, as if he taken a dip in the ocean and fallen asleep on the sand with his cloths on. The second thing was, to his slight surprise, the sound of water reaching his ears. Then his vision cleared and his eyes were met with an odd sight, "Stars?" He wondered aloud, his expression turning confused as he sat up to take in his surroundings; He was sitting on the beach of an island, half in an half out of the water. Axel ran a hand through his spiky hair, knocking sand from the mass of lank red strands. Standing, he tried to summon a portal and found he couldn't, he had lost the power of darkness? With sudden realization he reached up and placed a hand to his chest and gasped, he had a heartbeat! But did he still posses the power of fire? He tried summoning his weapons and sure enough they appeared, so he still had the ability to fight!<p>

Still, Axel was confused, where was he? How had he gotten his heart back? Frowning, he walked across the light beige colored sand and onto a little dock that jutted out near by, in the distance he could see another, much larger island. Looking down he was slightly surprised to find a few boats tied up at the dock, choosing one he made his way to the other island, and at the time, a whole new life.

* * *

><p>Roxas paced back and forth across Sora's mind, they'd arrived in Destiny Island some weeks prior, and this had become a constant thing. Ever sense the battle in the Betwixt and Between the blonde had become restless, angry, and desperate. A deep despair that was not his own plagued Sora and somehow he knew Roxas was responsible, ever since he had met the blonde at the top of the Castle That Never Was; Sora had also noticed Roxas's increasing agitation via a series of severe head aches. Sora had desperately beg the King into helping him release Roxas from his mind, not only to free himself of the despair and pain, but because he somehow knew it was partly his own fault the blonde was upset. Recently he had been having nightmares, which he later realized were Roxas's memories, about the battles he had had with the Organization.<p>

After telling all this to the King, he had agreed to help Sora free Roxas, as you can Imagine this pleased Roxas quite a bit. The blonde desperately wanted to be free, he knew the next time he opened his eyes he'd be free, somehow or other. He just knew, for whatever gut reason, that Axel was out there somewhere and he was determined to find him; But for now he would sleep and allow Sora and the King to find a way to free him.


	2. Dive Into the Heart Station

Axel sat staring out the window next to his bed in his small, two room apartment. He had arrived in Destiny Islands nearly three weeks ago and to his surprise discovered he recognized more then a few faces in the town. He had found nearly all of the members of Organization 13 here, living perfectly ordinary lives, yet remaining as close knit as ever before; They were all practically one big family, like they had been a very long time ago. The even lived close together in the same neighborhood on the opposite side of the island was the rest of the worlds inhabitants, so as to avoid suspicion and question, all in all they were pretty comfortable here.

And to Axel's complete surprised amusement, a lot of the former Nobody's had paired up, now that they had hearts they found that deep set feelings for one another had awakened! Zexion and Lexaeus lived in a two story down the street, already planning a future there. Marluxia and Vexen, of all the strange pairings, lived in the apartment next to Axel's, already married! Below Axel lived Demyx and Xigbar, who were still rather earlier in the relationship, after all they had only be reunited a week after Axel had arrived. Next to them Xaldin had moved in with Larxene, of all the people, yet the two went well together. Even Xemnas and Saix had found a life together, the two had arrived earlier this very week and with the help of the rest of their former subordinates, had acquired a small cottage near the beach. Lastly, and to Axel utmost shock, Xion lived in the apartment on his other side, somehow she too had been given a chance at a new life.

However, for all the happy comforts and all his old friends being around him, Axel was terribly depressed. One member of the former Organization remained unaccounted for, a certain small blue eyed blonde keyblader. The red head missed Roxas terribly, the blonde was constantly at the for front of his mind and for the hundredth time, since he had accepted that Roxas was never going to show up, he pulled his knees to his chest and wept quietly in the dark. Axel's once brilliant green eyes stared listlessly out the window at the night sky, regret welling up inside for the hundredth times since he had been given his new life, the regret of never conveying his feelings to a certain blonde keyblader.

Axel thought of the first time he'd met Roxas and sat with him on the train station tower in Twilight Town and all the times after. Tears continued to flow freely, unable and not willing to stop their flow as they formed rivers down his pale face, soaking his loose black t-shirt. Everyone was sleeping by now as Axel stood up, he exited his apartment and headed for the hidden beach on the far side of the island, far from the neighborhood in which he lived and out of reach to the town on the other side of the massive island. The former Flurry of Dancing Flames stood silently on the white sand of the empty beach, staring out over the moon kissed ocean, that flowed up to meet his knees as he waded out into is; Fully clothed in his black jeans, boots, and t-shirt.

The breeze drifted through his hair, which had grown quiet a bit since he had arrived in Destiny Islands, the red locks, though still and unruly mess, were well past his slim shoulders now. He allowed his emerald eyes to fall shut as he focused souly on the sensations or the water around his waist and the wind in his hair, allowing his troubled mind the chance to relax, even though the brief freedom from his own eternal torment was only for a short period of time, he welcomed it with open arms.

He felt the water suddenly well up and wrap itself around his shoulder like a pair of welcome arms and he opened his eyes, smiling sadly as he recognized a familiar water clone. The clone melted back into the water as the red head turned toward the beach, where none other than the Melodious Nocturne stood waiting for him, his arms crossed over his; Dressed in a simple blue shirt with a music note in a darker blue on his front and white skinny jeans. Sighing heavily, Axel walked back to the beach to meet his friend, "You shouldn't be swimming in your clothes like that Ax, especially at night...You of all people are far more likely to get sick doing that than anyone else...Remember the time Saix sent you to Atlantica and you were bed ridden for a week?" The blonde said once the red head had reached him. "Yeah...I remember..." Axel replied quietly, he also remembered how worried Roxas had been, how the blonde had refused to take a single mission till he was well again; And Axel unwilling stamped those memories away as a fresh wave a pain washed over him.

"You still miss him, huh?" Demyx asked, leaning over slightly to look into the red heads turned away face, "Listen...I know it hurts Ax...But you can't keep tormenting yourself over it...You need to move on, Roxas wouldn't want you beating yourself up and trying to get sick..." Axel sighed softly, but chose not to reply as he followed Demyx back to their apartment complex.

* * *

><p>Sora found himself in the last place he ever thought he would end up again, Castle Oblivion, a place that, thanks to the King and Jiminy's help, he remembered being in once before. Beside him was Riku, Donald and Goofy and the King walked just ahead of them, giving them well needed space. It had been three days ago now that Riku had confessed himself to Sora, much to Kairi's disappointment Sora had returned the silverette's feelings; Which left the red haired girl back on the Islands, sulking like a Princess turned down by her Prince and completely pissed about it.<p>

Still the brunette could not be happier as he entwined his fingers with Riku's, together they followed the King and his advisors into the now abandoned castle. "You going to be ok, Sora?" Riku asked softly, cyan blue eyes watching the other boy's face carefully, catching the nervous fear in his deep ocean blue eyes. Sora shook his head, his gut twisting with worry, the King had warned him, though he would be able to give Roxas a new lease on life, it left a high possibility of damaging their hearts; Leaving them trapped in a sort of waking coma, much the way a newly born Nobody would. "I-I think so...I can't turn back now Riku...I promised him I find a way to free him..I-I owe him at least this much...After...After everything I've taken away from him." Sora replied at last, looking up at Riku, who simply nodded; They had already discussed all of this a few days ago, before Riku had confessed and set out with him to find a way to free Roxas.

* * *

><p>It was not long before the small group found themselves in the Room of Repose, a hidden room in the massive and confusion maze that was Castle Oblivion. The room was mostly white, like the castle itself, and had odd look symbols all along the walls that closely resembled the Heartless symbol; The King proceeded to explain that the symbol stood for the Keyblade Master's, a symbol that had long since been lost to the world after a man named Xehenort had sought to steal the heart of another in order to become young again. Sora and Riku looked at each other, then back at the King, following the mouse up to a throne that was set up in the center of the room with its back facing the door. When they came around to the front of it they found a sight that made both boy's pause, Sora's breath caught as a sudden flood of memories, none of which belonged to himself, assaulted him at the sight of the blonde boy seated slumped over in the throne.<p>

Images of people and places, some familiar to Sora and others not, flashed through his mind. A girl with short blue hair, a boy with spiky brown hair, and the blonde that looked strikingly like Roxas. And names popped into place in his mind too, the girl was Aqua, the brunette boy was Terra and the blonde was not Roxas...But a boy, the same boy who sat in the throne now, a boy he suddenly realized he'd met as a child, named Ventus; Roxas's true somebody. "Ventus...?" Sora whispered aloud, Riku looked at him startled, the King nodded.

"That's right. This is Ventus, as I'm sure you figured out Sora, this is Roxas's true somebody..." The King explained, Riku looked to the mouse and frowned deeply, "But how? How did Roxas...Ventus, end up becoming Sora's Nobody?" The silver haired teen asked, the King looked at him, Sora was staring at Ventus with a blank expression. "Because Ventus's heart was once damaged badly and sought out another to fill in the missing pieces...Somehow it was Sora's heart that responded, back when he was a kid...And when Ventus lost his heart, leaving this empty shell, it took refuge in Sora's heart..." Mickey explained, but as Riku continued asking question Sora was dragged inside his own heart, back to that place in which he had first encountered his destiny; Dive to the Heart Station.

* * *

><p>Sora drifted toward the station platform, landing lightly on his feet, he looked around, at first he thought he was alone; But to the brunette's surprise another was on the platform. Not to far from him was a familiar looking blonde, sitting on the edge of the colorful station, staring out at the darkness that surrounded it. Sora walked toward him slowly, "Ventus? Or is it-" The blonde cut him off, "Roxas...I...Remember now though...Before...how I got here...About being 'Ventus'..." The other boy explained, voice barley a mumble as Sora went to sit beside him, though the blonde seemed a bit sad, he also looked happy. "I'm going to be free soon...I can feel my body near by Sora...Then you can be free too."<p>

Sora smiled, and for some reason he felt tears in his eyes, "Yeah..." He replied, voice thick with emotions, Roxas looked at him and tilted his head slightly. "Don't worry Sora...Despite what's happened I still want to be friends...I know you didn't have a choice but to defeat them all and I'm ok with that now...Somehow I feel like their all free now, waiting somewhere for me to come home. I can feel their hearts calling to me..." Sora nodded in understanding and the two looked off into the darkness as a light came into view. slowly growing brighter till it was all they could see.


	3. Wonderland

Axel was placing books on the shelf at the little book store he worked at, Zexion had started the place with Lexaeus's help, it turned out the 'Silent Hero' was also a rather good 'Silent Businessman'; The two had been kind enough to offer Axel a drop, as means to help distract the depressed red head from his own miserable thoughts. Though it did serve to pass the long hours and days of his new life, it did nothing for his thoughts. Recently he had begun to remember his life before the Organization, back when his name was Lae and he and Isa had been children together in Radiant Gardens. But of all the memories of his past life, he realized he and Roxas had been connected long before the Organization. Lae had once met a boy who looked strikingly like Roxas, an exact copy of the Key of Destiny, in fact the two of them, Lae and Ventus that is, had hit it off quiet well before everything in the worlds went to hell. Axel had realized then that he had loved Ventus or Roxas, who he was very sure had been one and the same, long before he had become a Nobody and forgotten all about his life as Lae.

Axel ran a few long fingers down the spine of a book he had just pushed into place, 'Alice in Wonderland' was its title, the titled brought on a memory from his Organization days; The mission he had gone on to Wonderland with Roxas, the same mission in which he had realized he could feel, the same day he had realized he had feelings for the blonde keyblader. He recalled that day as though it was yesterday, the sun had shown brightly that day, though it was pleasantly cool in the forest of Wonderland. He and Roxas had just completed their quota for the day and retrieved the optimum number of hearts, defeated the rouge Solider Heartless that had been terrorizing Wonderland and were on their merry way home; When it had come from no where, the largest Darkside Heartless the two had ever seen.

He and Roxas had turned to flee, but found their way blocked, they had tried to portal and found it impossible; So they did the next best thing, they attacked the Darkside. The fight was hard too, Axel recalled, remembering how tired he had been getting and they had only just half defeated the Heartless; He recalled Roxas struggling to keep going. The Darkside had been ruthless and struck Roxas at his weakest moment, in mid-air, sending the blonde flying and slamming with a sickening thud against a nearby tree; After which he had layed unconscious at its base.

Axel had felt outraged, a whole new wave of strength had suddenly welled up inside his body and he had attacked the Darkside with vindictive furry. He remembered delivering the final blow and landing behind it, looking back with a satisfied smile as it started to lumber forward and remember the slow motion feeling as he looked past it at the blonde who had found consciousness and was standing right in its path. Axel could practically feel the blood drain from him at the memory of the fear he had felt, the fear of losing the blonde forever. The red head had rushed as quickly as possible between the Heartless feet, wrapped his arms around the smaller, yet slightly more built frame or the blonde Key of Destiny and braced himself for the impact.

They had both been knocked out cold and when they had woken Axel had found himself laying on the ground in the middle of that forest with Roxas leaning over him, face extremely close to his own, though now he could not seem to remember the faces exact details; Which sent a wave of pain through Axel. Was he forgetting Roxas already? With a sickening jolt he found he could not even recall the exact color of the small boy's eyes or the his hair either, could not even recall the sound of his voice. Axel bit his lip hard, drawing blood, though he did not notice it, as hot tears flooded his eyes and raced down his face. Green eyes blinked back the tears, he could not let his friends see him like this, it would only end in unnecessary and tiring questions.

The red head layed down the books he had not yet shelved and rushed to the door that lead outside, "I'm taking a break!" He called back, before racing down the crowded streets of Destiny Island, the evening sun painting the sky a brilliant orange behind him as he raced to that secluded little beach; He's escape from the world.

* * *

><p>The next day Roxas stepped off the Gummi Ship, lifting his eyes to the darkening sky of Destiny Island, his new home. Behind him Sora and Riku stepped off the ship, coming to stop on either side of the blonde boy, "Welcome home Roxas!" Sora said, grinning happily, Riku nodded. "Yeah, welcome home Rox." The silver haired boy said, Roxas smiled back at the two in turn as King Mickey stepped up to join them. "We have already found a house for you on the other side of the island from here, its a smaller, much newer community. Or so I was told, it was Cid who picked the place for you." The mouse said, leading the group of teens through the town.<p>

It was not to awfully long before Roxas found himself in a tiny little house, partly secluded from the little community by a forest of palm trees, on a cliff over looking a lovely little white sand beach. Roxas explored the house for sometime after bidding Sora and Riku goodnight, promising to have breakfast with the two once morning came; Sora had kindly given him the address to, not his own home, but Riku's apartment since it seemed the two would be moving in together quiet soon.

The blonde found himself in the upstairs bedroom, which to his surprised pleasure had a balcony over looking the beach below. He was standing out on the balcony, enjoy the light breeze, which ruffled his messy and slightly damp blonde spikes. He had discovered earlier someone had stocked his new home with new clothes and had taking a shower to freshen up, he was now wearing a rather stylish jacket that had black sleeves, a light yellow vest with black and white checked lines running all the way around it, lined in a deep red with a red hood; The jackets base ended just below his chest and the sleeves ended just past his knuckles, just the way he preferred. On his left hand was the familiar black and white rings he had had both in his life as Ventus and his life in Twilight Town, on his right hand was a black half glove with the tips of the fingers cut off. Beneath the jacket was a simple form fitting black beater that came to a stop just past his hips, his legs were clad in a loose pair of green cargo pants, a lighter green skull on the right knee and lastly he wore a simple pair of black and red sneakers.

Though it was late at night Roxas was in no mood to sleep, he had energy to burn after his body had been comatose for nearly nineteen years. The blonde was looking up at the moon when movement on the beach caught his eyes and he looked down to see what it was, to his surprise he found a person was making there way toward the dark moonlit waters of the ocean. Roxas raised a brow, who on earth would be up this late at night, and on the beach no less? Curiosity getting the best of him, Roxas went down stairs and exited the house making his way down to the beach


End file.
